Sleeve press



Nov. 25, 1947. G. R. BICKNELL ET AL SLEEVE PRESS Original Filed Feb. 7,

FIG.

FIG-2 FIG. '4

' iNvEN'roRs GEORGE R. BICKNELL Frag A.HEIDENFELDER I 7 W W I ATTORNEYS Reissued Nov. 25. 1947 SLEEVE PRESS George R. Bicknell, Antioch, Ill., and Fred A. Heidenfelder, Whitewater, Wis., assignors to The American Laundry Machinery Company, Norwood, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original No. 2,365,448, dated December 19, 1944,

Serial No. 377,926, February 7, 1941. Application for reissue July 18, 1947, Serial No. 761,902

This invention relates to improvements in a press particularly adapted for ironing the sleeves of mens shirts.

An object of the present invention is to provide a press having a pair of beds or bucks adapted to receive simultaneously the two sleeves of a shirt from the shoulder to the cuff, laid fiat and of double thickness, together with coacting head to press these sleeves simultaneously.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for clamping the cuff end of a sleeve so as to assist in the smooth lay of the sleeve, to hold the plackets in proper position for ironing, and to hold the cuff portion of the sleeve away from the heated head or chest so as to prevent drying of the cuff.

Another object of the present invention is to provide novel clamping means associated with a pressing buck, together with novel means for releasing the clamp as the press closes. The invention also provides a plurality of clamps adapted to be placed individually in holding or release position, together with power means for simultaneously releasing all clamps.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from the accompanying drawings and specifications and the essential features will be summarized in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a pressing machine embodying our invention, with control mechanism therefor shown diagrammatically; Fig. 2 is a fragmental front elevation of the press of Fig. 1, showing the beds and associated clamps; while Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmental view of a portion of Fig. 2 with parts broken away to more clearly show the operating parts. Fig. 4 is a small fragmental top plan view of the beds.

Since our invention is applicable to various types of pressing mechanism a very brief description of the mechanism of Fig. 1 will be sufiicient. The pressing beds or bucks ii) are rigidly mountedon a pedestal II which is in turn mounted for vertical movement in the frame l2. A pin Ila extends downwardly in position to be engaged by a bell crank l3 operable by fluid motor M. A heated pressing head l5 complementary to the bucks I is mounted on hand lever l6 and oscillatable by a toggle I! which is actuated by fluid motor [8. When it is desired to close the press, valves l9 and 20 are moved to fluid supply position causing motor I 8 to straighten toggle I 1 carrying the pressing head to position above the bucks I 0. When the toggle ll reaches a strutforming position it opens valve 2| so as to sup- 6 Claims. (01. 38-12) ply'fluid through normally open valve 22 to motor l4 causing the bucks'to move upwardly against. the' pressing heads. To open the press, valve 22. is momentarily moved to cut off. the flow of'fiuidl to motor [4, whereupon a spring pressed plunger 23. and a spring 24 causethe pressing head to open. The valve 25 is a tandem valve for opening another press and has no connection with the pres.- ent invention.

The bucks I!) are preferably flat or convex upwardly as here shown and each adapted to receive the sleeve of a mans shirt from the shoulder to the cuff. Ordinarily each buck is longer than it is Wide and they are assembled in longitudinalv alinement with sufficient spacing between them to permit the body of the shirt to lie below the top surface of the bucks in while the sleeves are being ironed. Clamping means to be presently described is provided at the'outer end of each buck and in operation the cuff of a sleeve is first held beneath the clamp as indicated at 26 inFig. 3, after which the sleeve is laid flat along the top of the buck, stretching the same away from the clamped end so as to arrange the plackets of the sleeve facing upwardly and insmooth condition for ironing. When both sleeves have been laid in this manner with thebody-of the shirt foldeddown between and below the bucks ill, the pressing head I5 is brought down and the press is sealed for a suflicient length oftime toiron the sleeves.

It will be noted in Fig. 4 that in top plan view the bucks ID are in longitudinal alignment but their inner ends are inclined in a front to rear direction so as to provide a buck of different length at the front and rear of the press, Also the longer portion of the right-hand buck is in longitudinal alignment with the longer portion of the left-hand buck, and similarly the shorter: portions of the bucks are in alignment. The bucks ID are of a width from front to rear which is wider than the sleeve of a shirt and the length of; the rear portion of the buck will accommodate a long sleeve from the cuff to the shoulder seam while the front portion of the buck will support a shorter sleeve from the cuff to the shoulder seam. In other words, the difference in length between the front and rear portions of a buck is of the order of several inches so as to take care of the range of sleeve lengths normally encountered. It results from this construction that with the body of the shirt lying between the bucks Ill each sleeve may be laid along one of the bucks with the shoulder seamraligned along the inclined innerendedgeof each'buckandthis may be done with a wide range of shirt sizes and sleeve lengths.

This eliminates the necessity of pressing into and distorting the body of the shirt during the sleeve pressing operation with the subsequent necessity for re-damp'ening of those body portions on that account. Also a simple rigid buck of fixed shape is nevertheless adapted for the pressing of shirt sleeves of different lengths.

The clamping means comprises two identical clamps located at the outer ends of the bucks Ill and one only will be described. The clamp 21 is pivotally mounted at 28 in a fixed bracket 35 connected with the pedestal H. Below the pivot 28 a link 29 is pivotally connected with the clamp 21. This link passes freely through an opening in shaft 30 and the spring 3| is engaged between collar 32 and the head of the links so as to normally urge the head of the link upwardly. This provides an over-center device so that the clamp 21 will remain either in the full line or dot-dash line position of Fig. 3, after being so placed. A stop pin 33' limits the movement of the clamp in its open position.

Preferably power means is provided for opening the clamp and in the present instance this comprises a small servomotor 34 carried by the bracket 35. The servomotor has a piston 34a which engages the lower arm of arelease lever 36 which is pivotally mounted in the bracket 35 at the point 31. This lever has a nose 36a adapted to engage clamp 21 below pivot 28 when the clamp is in holding position and to move the clamp to open position when fiuid is supplied to the servomotor. A stop pin 36b engages bracket 35 to limit movement of lever 36 in clamp-releasing direction. 1

Preferably means is provided for opening the clamps 27 just before the press closes. For this purpose the conduit system 38 which supplies fluid to motor I4 for finally closing the press is provided with a branch 38a which conducts fluid through two branches 38b to the servomotors 34. Because, by way of their conduits, the servomotors 34 are nearer to the valve 2| than servomotor l4, and further, because servomotors 34, both singly and collectively, are of such small volumetric capacity as compared with the large pressure motor l4, and also on account of their lesser duty or load, pressure will build up in and move over the pistons of the servomotors 34 almost instantaneously and well before operation of'motor I4 is completed, thereby to move the clampsll away from their clamping position and toward their release position before the press is finally closed under full pressure.

In operation, the clamps 21, are moved manually by the operator from the full line position of Fig. 3 to the dot-dash position thereof against thecufi 26 of each shirt sleeve when arranging the lay of the sleeves on the bucks Ill. The operator then pinches the shoulder atthe exact folding line while grasping the other seam at the arm pit and draws the seam taut across the buck. This not only facilitates making a rapid and smooth lay but indexes the sleeve crease to coincide with the shoulder crease which is later made during a folding operation. The press is then closed and just before the motor l4 moves the bucks into final engagement with the pressing head, fluid is supplied through conduit 38a and conduits 38b simultaneously to the servomotors 34 causing lever 36 to move each clamp to the open position as shown in full lines in Figs, 2 and 4 3. Motor 14 then operates to apply final pressure.

It results from this construction that the cuff end of the sleeve is firmly held while the operator makes the lay of the sleeve and the cuff is held away from the heated pressing heads, but the clamps are automatically released when the Press is closed so that upon completion of the pressing ,or ironing operation the operator may remove the sleeves from the press without delay.

What we claim is: 1. A garment pressing machine, comprising relatively movable head and bed members, means for causing relative approach of said members to a closed position short of final pressure'between them, separate means for causing further approach of said members to final pressure position, a releasable work clamp movable at will by the operator into work clamping relation with the bed member, and means for releasing said work clamp, said last named means being responsive to operation of said first named means, whereby the clamp is released prior to the application of final pressure.

2. A garment pressing machine, comprising relatively movable head and bed members, means for moving the head member down to a closed position close to the bed, means for raising the bed member into full pressure relation with the head member, a releasable work clamp movable at will by the operator into work clamping relation with the bed member, and means for releasing said work clamp actuated by operation of said head moving means, whereby the clamp is released prior to the application of final pressure.

3. A garment pressing machine, comprising cooperating relatively movable head and bed members, each movable toward and from the other, a releasable work clamping member movable into and out of work clamping relation with the bed member, a motor for operating the head member to close the press, a motor for releasing the work clamp, a motor for operating the bed member to apply ironing pressure to the work, and control means for serially energizing said motors in the order named, whereb the work clamp is released before final pressure is applied to the work.

4. A garment pressing machine, comprising cooperating relatively movable head and bed members, each movable toward and from the other, a, releasable work clamping member movable into and out of work clamping relation with the bed member, a motor for operating the head member to close the press, a, motor for releasing the work clamp, a motor for operating the bed member to apply ironing pressure to the work, a controller for energizing the first named motor to close the press, and a second controller actuated by press closing movement and arranged to first energize the second named motor to release the work clamp and to then energize the third named motor to apply final pressure to the work.

5. In a pressing machine, an elongated buck adapted to receive a shirt sleeve laid fiat from the shoulder to the cuff, a clamp at the cuff end of said buck for holding the cuff of a sleeve on said buck, a pressing head coacting with said buck to iron a sleeve thereon, power means for producing relative motion between said head and buck, power means for releasing said clamp, a common power system for both of said power means, and a single control means for energizing said power system.

, 6. In a pressing machine, an elongated buck' adapted to receive a shirt sleeve laid flat from the shoulder to the cuff, a clamp at the cuif end of said buck for holding the cuff of a sleeve on said buck, a pressing head coacting with said buck to iron a sleeve thereon, a fluid actuated motor for producing relative motion between said head and buck, a fluid motor for releasing said clamp, a common conduit connected with a source of pressure fluid and having branches leading to said motors, a common conduit communicating with a source of pressure fluid and having two branches connected respectively to said two motors, said branches and the motors connected thereto being so formed and related to each other as to cause operation of the clamp releasing motor prior to GEORGE E. BICKNELL. FRED A. HEIDENFELDER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the I file of this patent:

FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain May 14, 1936 Number 

